The Hunger Of The Richest
by parafanfic
Summary: Muggles are slaves and they have to serve their masters. Fleurmione
1. Chapter 1

**NA: This chapter is about how this world works and the relations between characters. This story is divided in two, one is this one about Hermione and Fleur, while the other is under another title and about other characters.**

CHAPTER 1

It was a dark time to be a Muggle. Many centuries before, the Wizarding World had unleashed a curse against every creature that had no magical quality. The purity of blood prevailed over all. Expressions such as "toujours pur" could be read in every corner – especially in France, where slavery took place for the first time.

Muggles lived in the lands of the Great Lords, wizards and other magical creatures with human shape, to whom they owed obedience and tithes, plus the lease and use of their lands. The tithes were suffocating, chiefly for the small villages such as Haut Champ where winters were hard. The snowstorms made it difficult to harvest, trade with other villages, etc.

Winter was notorious for famine and mortality. That was why children started working when they were toddlers. Many worked in mines, crops, or like Hermione, helping their parents. Hermione worked in Aberforth's inn "Bière Pour Tous". Her days consisted of cooking for customers, lighting the fire, cleaning tables, mopping toilets, etc.

"Aberforth, where is my potage?" a regular customer asked.

"Sorry, Pierre. She's still on it."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Hermione said. She was almost running. "I'm really sorry. Here it is."

The man accepted; it was pretty cold outside to reject a hot meal.

Aberforth realized that Hermione couldn't deal with cooking that day. They opened late and she was being slow with the food, so they exchanged their position. Hermione served tables, even though there weren't many people to attend. No one came in or out for a while. She decided to do something useful, such as cleaning the counter.

Suddenly, a man and two girls came in. They were attired with fancy clothes. The girls couldn't be over 13 years old. The young one must be 8 or 9 years old while the oldest must be a preteen. Hermione was ready to serve them, but, when she saw the bright light the oldest girl exuded, she let the dishcloth drop. She felt herself being hypnotized. For some minutes she was in another world. When she recovered from that state she walked towards them. "I'll be your waitress. What will you have, Sir?"

"My Lord," he corrected. The girl's face was puzzled, so he explained himself. "My Lord, not Sir. You aren't an upper class witch. You're a commoner. I'm Lord James Potter, the owner of the whole region, so I'm pretty much your Lord."

She corrected herself immediately. "Ah, ok. What will you have, my Lord?"

"Where does your water come from?" the Lord asked.

"There's a wellspring in the mountains. Every week we..."

James didn't want to listen what he considered rubbish. "Forget it. Bring wine. For lunch, mmm…" He looked around to guess what kind of food they served. "The biggest cauldron you have with bouillabaisse, and a whole chicken for the three of us."

Hermione opened her eyes wide and stared. It was too much for three people. They wouldn't eat it all.

Her reaction didn't go unnoticed by James, who didn't like it one bit. "What?"

"Nothing, my Lord," she said. "It's just...it's too much. People usually don't have that much money." She felt pretty uncomfortable when the girls burst out laughing. So beautiful a laugh, but at the same time so evil.

"This is good," the oldest girl muttered. Her voice was feminine and showed authority, or, rather, coldness.

The meaning behind the Muggle's words was offensive to James, and he wasn't going to stand it. "I'll explain it to you in your common language so you can get it. This land is mine, this village is mine, also this inn, your chicken... I'm not going to pay."

The little brain of Hermione was trying to work it out to make sense. Aberforth has always told her she serves tables and people pay for it. Now, this man was saying he wasn't going to pay. Too complex. "But...everyone pays."

At that point the family was pissed off. They could cut her hand off if they wished. Before the patriarch said anything, the oldest girl stopped him. "James, let her up to me." Then she rose up from her chair. She held her wand aimed at the bushy-haired girl the way a hunter aims at his prey. Hermione felt the wand pressing under her chin. They were so close; their gazes locked and something inside each of them sang a precious tune. Fleur felt her inner beast roaring and shaking. Never in her life had she ever felt like this.

Before making a fool of herself, she stood up for her beliefs and said hoarsely, "Can everyone do this?" With just a flick of the wrist, she cast a spell that broke the vodka bottle on the counter. The report drew the attention of Aberforth, who leaned out. The scene he found was a haughty Hermione clenching her fists trying not to lose her temper in front of a witch, whom he recognized immediately. She was Fleur Delacour, the stepdaughter of James Potter, who was there as well, and with him his daughter Gabrielle Potter. He ran towards them to offer some excuses and told Hermione to go to the kitchen. "I'm sorry, my Lord. I beg for mercy. She's young and doesn't understand anything at all."

"You can be grateful that my stepdaughter took charge of this situation," James said. "I wouldn't have been so merciful."

"I understand, my Lord."

"You may go, peasant. And do what you do best, serving us," Gabrielle said. When Aberforth was out of their sight, she burst into laughter again. "It was the funniest thing; did you seen the old man's face?"

James Potter looked at her. "I don't see what is so fun." To him, the little girl had disputed their authority.

After a silence of several minutes, Gabrielle added, "We should teach her who is in charge."

"Gaby, things are more complicated right now, we cannot punish every peasant of our villages because we want to." James was aware of the whole global situation, the general discomfort. As a good leader, he knew when they could pull the trigger.

The little lady was unconvinced. "Not every peasant, our servants."

Fleur and James looked at each other. "I think we don't follow you."

"Dear sister," Gabrielle said, "it's my eighth birthday. In 3 years I will have my first Blood, and I´ll need a personal slave to help me out with elementary things we don't have spells for, such as dressing, bathing, going downstairs...if Harry doesn't have children, I will be the heiress. I could fall going downstairs before being of age, and goodbye House of Potter!"

"She's too young; she couldn't take proper care of you." James protested. "And even if she could, she's insolent."

"She won't be with me," Gabrielle answered. Her eyes were dark blue; Fleur knew that look too well. She didn't say a word, but she felt sorry for this bushy-haired girl. She was afraid for her safety. Her sister was known for being cruel to Muggles. There was a day when Gabrielle had lit a fire on a slave's hair. Reason? She had mistaken the dessert Gabrielle asked for.

"Father, I swear she will be a good slave, responsible, and most important, submissive." Gabrielle was really interested in her. She insisted, "Her age is an advantage. I don't want a crone like Fleur's one. In a few years her slave will be good for nothing."

Sometimes, James Potter wondered whether his daughter was 8 years old or an adult woman in a small body. Anyway, that day they had gone out to buy her a gift for her birthday and they hadn't gotten one, and he couldn't deny her anything. So, when Aberforth gave them their dishes, he addressed the topic. "Is that your daughter?"

Aberforth knew whom they were talking about; he didn't need to ask. He was older but wiser. "Yes, she is, my Lord."

Fleur looked at him with a disgusted face. "Aren't you old to be her father?"

He smiled. "Not as old as I look, my Lady."

James raised his hand to order silence. He wanted to drive the conversation. "The thing is this. My daughter, Gabrielle, has turned 8 years old. She wants a beautiful present. Your child is beautiful."

Fleur understood the message could be interpreted wrongly. "What my stepfather wanted to say is that my Half-Sister needs a personal slave and she has chosen the bushy girl."

Definitely, it was not good. It was bad, really bad. His head was trying to make up any excuse it could find. "She's too young."

"She'll learn," James countered.

"And silly. Very, very silly."

Aberforth didn't count on Pierre, the customer who asked for potage. That man intervened in favor of Hermione without knowing the serious consequences of his act. "Your daughter will learn. She's smart."

The old man, facing him with a disgraced face, tried to make him go to his place, but Pierre was persistent. He grabbed Aberforth by his arm and went to talk to him alone.

"What are you doing, Pierre?" Aberforth was the first to speak.

"No, what are you doing?" Pierre replied. "I have been coming here for many years and I think we are more than acquaintances, we are friends. Let me tell you that you're stupid if you don't take this chance. Look through the windows!" He pointed to the snow. "It's death. Children die every day because of illness, cold and hunger. Yours is healthy, but for how long? In their estate, slaves have everything, heat, food..."

James Potter was a good chess player. He knew the proper times for taking actions. He waited to finish his lunch. Being eager wasn't good for business. Then he asked again, and this time he was not so friendly. "My daughter is pissed. We can do it in two ways. The one you're going to like the most is, you give me your child willingly; the other is, I take her away from you by force. The second choice would turn all of this into a bloodbath. I'll give you a moment to decide."

While all of this was happening, Hermione was in the kitchen talking to herself. "It's my Lord, not Sir, blablabla. My Lord Fucking Prick! Surely these dudes have their house painted every year. Poison yourself with your fresh paint!"

Suspiciously, Aberforth came into the kitchen telling her to have lunch. Which was weird because she never ate after 4 pm. Something was up. Maybe a difficult truth to confess. He inhaled air as if it could bring him courage. "The wizards want you to go with them."

"Well, sorry for them. I don't want to."

The old man got on his knees and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's not that easy, Hermione. They can order it; they are wizards, after all."

"You are a wizard too!" the girl replied.

"They cannot know it. No one can know it." Aberforth had been hiding from his past for so long. A dark past that could come back if someone knew what he was. "I promised your parents I would protect you; if we attack them here, I would put you in the spotlight. You wouldn't be safe."

All those words didn't convince Hermione. Why was he hiding? For her, all were pretences, lies. Negation turned into confusion and vice versa. It was a mess. "You don't want me here, do you?" She walked away from him. "I can run. I don't have to go with them."

"For Merlin's sake! They're wizards. They don't need to run to catch you!" Aberforth grew angry. He wasn't her father, but he had raised her like one. He wouldn't allow her to make stupid mistakes. "Even if you escape, you will be a fugitive. You cannot come back. Look, they have people to bring them food from this village. Usually from the village to their estate, but, sometimes, their slaves do it, the are allowed to come to this village as a reward, and buy food for them. Maybe in a few years, if you still remember me, you could visit this gaffer."

The farewell was easy for him. He was the one staying. She didn't want to recognize it, but she was afraid. People told terrible stories about that place. If her father had been there, he would have said, run, escape if you have the chance, not matter how slim is your chance, even if she had to...She was fast and took the wand Aberforth had been hiding. He took the wand away from her. He made her understand that it couldn't be. Nothing good would come out of this rebellion.

Before she got out, he muttered something to her, hidden in an embrace. "Don't let them know."

Fleur watched them carefully. Something was wrong in that scene. Father and daughter hugging each other, yes, but something was missing. She remembered her father's funeral. She saw herself crying. "She's crying as well, but, is she crying over coming with us or going away?" she thought.

Finally, all were inside the carriage. On a whim of Gabrielle's, Hermione was with them. The trip was torturous; Hermione kept thinking about the stories while ceaseless words from Gabrielle filled the silence.

"You'll be my personal slave; you have to dress me, bathe me, help me getting downstairs..."

"You are wizards, couldn't you disappear and appear downstairs, my Lords?" Hermione asked, her tone sarcastic when she had to use the noble title.

Gabrielle, offended by her ignorance, replied, "Stupid, you cannot appear and disappear until you are an adult. You should be punished for your stupidity."

The little French girl was calmed down by her sister, who hadn't said a word since they left the inn, and didn't seem to be planning on it. What disturbed Hermione the most was Fleur's piercing eyes, which didn't let her out of their sight, as if an object were broken and Fleur were trying to figure out where.

Meanwhile, James wasn't paying attention. He was thinking about Aberforth, the owner of that silly inn. He looked familiar. Not as if they had ever met before; he was sure they hadn't. But he reminded him of someone else; he couldn't guess whom.

They didn't speak again until they arrived at Potter's estate. There things got worse.

"Dad, dad, I wanna be an Auror like uncle Sirius," said a boy who wore glasses; Hermione deduced he was Potter's son. Not only because he said dad; also because the two of them were alike.

"I see Apolline read your uncle's letter to you," James said. He came into the living room. Hermione guessed that was the beginning of the end. She knew things would have an ugly finish. She just watched to see when everything would go wrong.

"Yes, she did," the boy said with pride. "When I become an adult, I will be like him. I'm going to travel around the world; I will run to catch the 'bad guys'."

She identified that moment. That was when the sky was going to fall down. She hadn't met the family before, but, if they were the way they showed themselves to be in the carriage, someone would say something cruel to that boy.

"You would not do such a thing," Gabrielle said. She came into the living room behind James.

"And here we go," Hermione thought. No, they hadn't let her down. Being an Auror was not something you should be proud of, because they chased down Muggles who ran away from their owners. Demon dogs.

Fleur tried to help her stepbrother out.

"No, Fleur, Gaby's right. My son has to accept this, and the sooner the better." The patriarch stated. "You will not be an Auror, Harry. You are the Potter heir, the bearer of our House and our business. You'll meet a beautiful lady and will get married to her. You two will give me grandchildren. Then, they will do the same as you did, and so on in order to keep our House alive."

She couldn't help but feel pity for that boy who went crying to his chamber. Deep down, it was very sad to have that money and not be freer than a slave. He was going to stay in Potter's estate because his father said so. As she would.

Surely these things don't happen in a Muggle family," Fleur said. She felt their slave's eyes during the scene. Fleur circled the brunette. "I bet, Muggles don't care enough for their children, not even when they have to work in dangerous jobs such as mines. Take your father as an example. He didn't cry. Right now, he must be celebrating that he has one mouth fewer to feed."

It touched Hermione's heart, not in a good way. Fury was seizing her because somehow she felt that the blonde wasn't wrong. Some truth was in it. She fought against her tears, but they won. They got out bit by bit.

Madame Delacour called over Fleur's personal slave, Rosmerta, a nearly 40-year-old woman. She didn't want to put up with a moaning Muggle. Two slaves could console each other better.

Never in her life had Hermione's eyes been so itchy. The only factor that distracted her was a certain redhead who broke into Rosmerta's room.

"What's wrong with her?" Hermione heard the redhead asking.

Rosmerta, who finally noticed Ginny's presence, thought it was not the best moment to introduce them. "Nothing's wrong, Ginny, please..."

Ginny didn't care; she never, ever listened to lies. "Is it because of your kidnapping?"

Kidnapping, that was how it felt for Hermione. No one had given her a choice.

"Ginny, please! No one kidnapped anyone!" Rosmerta was horrified by that word. If it came to the Potters' notice, she could be punished. She knew she heard it somewhere, from someone.

Hermione nodded. She liked that girl for her sincerity. She wasn't like adults.

"It's not a kidnapping," Rosmerta insisted. "Our Lord has every right to call you into his service."

To Hermione's mind, that was a stupid excuse. What was wrong with her? Her mind tried to get the whole picture. That woman, the redhead, the wizards... "Blasted!" she shouted. Rosmerta, shocked, covered Hermione's mouth with her own hand. Hermione talked even with that impediment. "I'll run away; I'll go back home to my father."

"I don't know why you complain so much. We are not so badly off here," Ginny said.

"Easy for you to say," Hermione thought.

The ginger sat down in front of Hermione to look at her. "When we don't have anything to do, we play tag."

"Ginny, I don't think she cares about your scampering," Rosmerta cut her off.

For the first time, Hermione looked back at her. Her eyes got wide with hope. "You run around?"

Rosmerta saw the new girl's interest and allowed Ginny to continue. "Yes, we do! And we also dance."

"Do you dance here?" At that point, Hermione's eyes were open like an owl's.

Rosmerta intervened. "Yes, we do. Some of us make drums and such things to play music. Others sing...it's not so bad."

The little girl concluded that the authenticity of those stories mightn't be so great. A place where you can dance and scamper couldn't be so bad, right?

"I'm Ginny," the ginger introduced herself.

"My name is Hermione."

Ginny eyed her with a weird face. "What an ugly name!" That got her a slap in the back by Rosmerta. It wasn't something appropriate to say. Hermione had a reproachful face. "D'oh! Ok. It doesn't matter. Anyway, when you don't have any task, you can find me in the kitchen or in the garden. I'm sure you'll have a lot of free time. Nymphadora says that personal slaves barely work and you become lazy."

Rosmerta was going to correct Ginny, but she decided otherwise. It was better not to tell all the tasks a personal slave must undergo in front of the new girl.

The last thing Ginny said before going was, "Sorry for your kidnapping again." When she was out of their sight, Rosmerta tried to think what she had been told when she had been a child and had arrived at the estate. "You know, if you work hard, they allow you to visit the village."

Hermione had Aberforth's word still in mind. They both said she could go to the village, so it had to be the truth, and going there would give her a chance to escape. That made her smile. But Rosmerta had lied; she knew that white lie would keep her occupied, and what she had lived until that moment would be forgotten gently.

 **NA: English is not my first language but** **Qoheleth is helping me out with the story because I am very absent-minded so you can guess the stupid mistakes I have in my written. Most of them are the capital letters hahaha very stupid mistakes. Thanks Qoheleth for dealing with my English.**


	2. Chapter 2 New Life

**Gryden: I think it was better that way, cause being Fleur's slave would be like...I don't know, expected.**

 **MelodiDam : here is the second one haha.**

 **SH4D0W44: Jajaja disfrútalo. Si viste el capítulo en español que sepas que he cambiado algunas cosas jaja.**

 **Guest,Arsenal and heMe90210: thanks for you support. Here I upload the second chapter.**

 **English is not my native language so if you see something is not clear, please tell me or ask me and try not to kill me haha.**

 **CHAPTER 2**

Everything was new and strange for Hermione. The first day, she woke up at the same time she did when she had to open the inn. Albeit no one seemed to be an early riser at the manor. No even Fleur's personal slave, Rosmerta who shared the room with Hermione.

The idea of running away crossed her mind, but she was still afraid of getting caught. The punishment for escaping was amputation or death. So she tried to accept her new role. Nevertheless, the continuous humiliations she had to put up with, made her never to let go the idea of getting out of that place.

The first humiliation came when she had to dress Gabrielle. She tried to follow Rosmerta's steps, but it was pretty difficult even when Rosmerta was doing it slowly so she could copy.

Gabrielle protested how useless Muggles were and gave thanks to Merlin that wizards tame them and teach them how to be a proper Muggle.

"If you cannot keep up, maybe we should give you back to the shit where we took you from." said Fleur, looking with disdain through the mirror, while her little half-sister used it to admire her own beauty.

"I look good" said Gabrielle "By the way dear sister, you cannot say you will give Muggles back to the shit we took them from when shit is part of them"

At that moment nothing would have brought Hermione more pleasure than pulling Gabrielle by her hair. And she was going to do it until Rosmerta stopped her before she did something stupid. Rosmerta used her astuteness to protect the new slave "Well done little one, now that you got that bunch of hair, you have tu put it up then with your other hand..."

The bushy-haired girl understood the sign of "behave and pay attention". She did her best, yet why was their hair was so complex? Couldn't they just let their hair down?No, because they were nobles so everything had to be super complex.

That was during the day, at night it was worse. Gabrielle wanted to take a bath. Obviously, Hermione prepared hot water. Normal. What was weird was that Gabrielle asked her to bathe her which left Hermione perplexed "Excuse me?"

Gabrielle puffed. Definitely, her slave was an idiot "I said, you have to bathe me. You know, you gotta wash my body like other personal slaves do. What? did you expect me to bathe myself?"

Hermione looked at her with disgust "Let's see if I get it. Do you want me to ...rub your body?"

The little witch saw it as something very simple and plain. She didn't understand the problem at all "Yes. Are you deaf or stupid?"

And Hermione did it...from the farthest distance she could have. The touch was slight. In fact, anyone could have noticed that bathing her mistress grossed her out. Hermione half-closed her eyes not to see flesh. Soon, something called her attention. Gabrielle's wand fell on the floor and she couldn't help herself but to stare at the wand.

"Ouch!" shouted Gabrielle "you're casting me soap in my eyes! What's wrong with you? Stupid Muggle!"

Suddenly, Fleur rushed into the bathroom and found the new slave watching her sister's wand carefully "What's going on?"

"This idiot casted soap in my eyes!"

"Of course, because she was too busy trying to steal your wand!" Quick as a flash, Fleur picked her sister's wand up from the floor. "What were you gonna do it with it?"

Rosmerta came after Fleur "Milady, what is happening?"

Fleur turned to her own slave and said "The new girl wanted my sister's wand. Surely, she wanted to try magic, that's what Muggles do when they rob wizards' wands."

"That's not true!" claimed Hermione.

Rosmerta intervened in her new mate's favour "Not even possible, milady. I don't know how magic works, but if it were so easy, there would not be Muggles any more."

"Then, why was she staring at the wand?!" Fleur didn't trust the brunette at all. She got close to Hermione and held her face "Why were you,mm?"

"Maybe because it's something useless to me and I don't get why it makes you,milady, different from me" Hermione allowed herself to use a sarcastic tone full of venom, which earned her a slap from was not the last one, Fleur was always waiting for an excuse to hit the girl. Every time it happened, something clouded both of them. They heard an old and known tune, the same tune they heard when they met. The air was mesmerizing and their heads moved like ships in the tide. It was always Hermione acknowledged of her place who took a step back.

When hitting wasn't enough demeaning, both sisters found other ways to poke fun at her. Gabrielle used to be the most creative one when it came to it. Like was bringing the slave to their classes, even when the teacher, Remus Lupin, was absolutely against. One day, while Fleur was sitting in her individual desk with her books, because she was more advanced than her sister, Remus Lupin told Gabrielle to read the Philosophical History of "The Allegory Of The Cave". Gabrielle refused and ordered Hermione to read it instead, even when she knew Hermione couldn't read.

Remus had to pronounce the sounds so the little slave could repeat them.

"Te..."

"The" He corrected.

"The..." Hermione looked the book, nevertheless the letters written there meant nothing to her.

"Ma"

"Ma...th, the math?" She really tried to guess what was the next word.

Both sisters burst out laughing. "Math? what does Math have to do with this?!" exclaimed Remus losing his patience. "Man, man, the man!"

Fleur even dared to kick her chair to make her more uncomfortable and notorious the derision they were having at her expense.

"Ladies, is this really necessary?" asked Remus "She's a slave, someone unable to read. It's not one of their capabilities. This is delaying your studies!" He wasn't not of those wizards who could stand ignorance. Lessons were important, no something to mess with.

Through the window, Hermione saw the other slaves in the garden and vice verse. They were confused about why she was attending to classes. What no one knew was that every night, when everyone was fast asleep, Hermione took a knife and wrote on the wall the letters she had learned in the lessons. After that class, she read worse only to be corrected and remember how letters sounded alone and with other letters. They could laugh at her as much as they wanted, but she was going to laugh last. Aberforth once told her that " many things go wrong in this miserable world, while the books provide you worlds whose rules aren't settled until the end." In other words, a world where she wasn't a slave. One day she will have to figure out how to escape from that place and pay a quick visit to Aberforth before running away, although every time she tried to get out of the manor, she came across with one of the Delacour women. It was like if they had a radar which detected her thoughts. Gabrielle was the easiest to mislead, with provoking a confrontation with his half-brother Harry was enough to distract her. Probably because Gabrielle wasn't a Delacour, she carried the last name of Potter which made both siblings to hold some kind of rivalry. Whatever, avoiding Fleur and Apolline was another story.

"Where are you going?" asked Fleur, stopping Hermione in her tracks. The bushy-haired little girl would never recognise it, but Fleur frightened her.

"Well...your sister is having a disagreement with Harry so... I'm going to the garden, I don't wanna witness fraternal disputes."

Fleur circled around her while guessing what was so special about this girl, matted hair, pale skin, skinny shape. Nothing, she was very ordinary "I see. I'm going with you. Rosmerta must be there as well."

When they crossed the garden threshold, there was a group of slaves beating drums, dancing and singing. Their song could be heard throughout the whole estate.

 _Sing a song of common sense_

 _I don't see faith as something I'd handle._

 _I rather see,_

 _the sea fighting a barrier fence,_

 _it's a candle dandled down your knees_

The slaves formed a circle in which each one entered to share their music with those who surrounded them.

 _where should I search for miracles_

 _if they come and go_

 _Oh no!_

 _No more breath to blow_

 _I have to go back to my slum again._

 _That's what God makes me to put it with_

 _Oh no!_

 _I'm whining in vain._

 _Oh no no!_

 _Whining in vain._

Hermione looked back at Fleur, unconsciously she asked her if she wanted to join them, but a simple glare was enough to withdraw and go with her mates,who most of them she hadn't met yet.

Lady Delacour came into the garden a little bit later and sat on the bench beside her daughter. "Definitely, Muggles carry music in their veins. When the Malfoys arrive we will have to look for a place for their and our slaves so they can dance and sing. Otherwise, it will get noisy."

Apolline knew Fleur didn't like the Malfoys, they were irksome, overweening and snooty, for some reasons they couldn't comprehend why James like them. They really got along with each other since Hogwarts. The gang was Remus, Lucius, James and Sirius, Harry's godfather. But from time to time they gather with Sirius cousins, Narcissa and Bellatrix. Apolline didn't like them that much either, however they were James' friends so she had to endure them.

"But mom, Draco is stupid and keep staring oddly at slaves, above all at the girl whose hair is in flames" said Fleur. She was 13 years old, too young to understand the whole situation and too old not to perceive the situation was evil somehow.

Apolline took her daughter's hand on her owns. She tried no to accuse them openly "Fleur, honey, Draco is a man. Men go after women...don't stay alone with him, OK?"

"Mom, he only looks at slaves."

Beauty taught Apolline many things related to men, things that one day her daughters would face "Fleur, men like him go after slaves because they can do as they please with them. Beware of those who prey on the weak because we all can have a moment of feeble."

Fleur had a vague idea about what her mother was referring to and thought about those girls who were dancing and singing in front of her and found herself thanking the Gods of the Forest for being born with magic. She always knew they were different but never realized what it entailed.

The music was loud enough for Apolline ad Fleur to listen.

"If you think they are gonna be that noisy you can forbid music while the Malfoys stay here" said Fleur with scorn.

Apolline laughed at the naivety of her daughter "Ban music? My little and dear girl, when you grow up I want you to remember that you must not fight an enemy you cannot touch. It is a lost cause."

Hermione joined them in the circle to distract herself from the creepy days she had. Running away was an option hardly disposable, no because of their conditions, if she had to be honest, out there life was much more tough. It was the pressure of living with a faddy lord who can kill you only because he wishes so what was a suffocating agony. Her masters were faddy.

Finally one dawning, Hermione woke up at her usual time, earlier than anyone else. Very carefully she got out of her bedroom to examine the house. Everything was dark at that hour. She leaned against the walls to keep from tripping. No one was around. It was then or never. So she grabbed the front door knob and turned it slowly.

"Whatcha doing?" A voice startled her. There was shadow walking to her. When it got close enough she could see a redhead boy who, judging by his clothes, had to belong to the slave class. "There are guards outside, if they see you sneaking away...let's say it could end very badly for you." that boy was biting an apple.

"Who are you?" demanded Hermione.

The boy was aware of her distrust "I help in the stables." said merely "I don't want to stick my nose in other's people business, but watch out for making wrong decisions deliberately" Then the boy went to another room and she, automatically, followed him. They arrived at the kitchen, but they didn't stop there,they continued until the warehouse, which was huge.

"There must be a way" Hermione didn't need to finish the clause, both of them knew what she was talking about.

"Forget it. Lady Delacour and her daughters are Veelas" stated the boy, thinking it made sense to Hermione. Of course, it didn't. For her was like telling a story starting at the end. " You know what a Veela is, don't you?" The bushy-haired girl shook her head "OK, I don't know that much either. It's complicated. Almost no one understand Veelas' magic, maybe even not those creatures know their whole power. I only know they are gorgeous people who have more power than common wizards and witches, and one of their gifts is the sense of smell, or I think so."

"And why do you think so?"

"Thebesafbenlivalltheirlivwiz"

He was talking with his mouth full, there was no chance Hermione could understand him "Please, chew and swallow."

"There are slaves who have been living with Delacour family all their lives and tell stories where Apolline could recognise smells or know where people are exactly"argued the boy "Without going too far, last week the coachman lagged behind in the dorp so they went after him for fear he was fleeing. Lady Delacour told the guards where he was precisely. There isn't any locator spell so accurate. At least I didn't see it coming from Lord Potter in my 12 years of age."

Now, her plan of running away got more complex. If this quality of Veelas were true, does Fleur have it? And Gabrielle? Even if the blood of the last one was half-breed the similarity with her mom was amazing "Are Fleur and Gabrielle Veelas too?"

"The best way to identify Veelas is if they behave like Veelas, look like Veelas and talk like Veelas, they are Veelas" the boy took a piece of bread and threw it to his mate. "You'll need energy."

All of a sudden, they heard some voices coming. Hermione hid the piece in her clothes.

"Guards" murmured the boy "we gotta go!"

They sought a way out. The garden gate was a good option, but they weren't so sure if they could have reached the door before the guards came in. Hermione saw a window on top. It was complicated,yet they haven't any other better choice and she loved free running so it worthed a shot. She took a few steps back and ran against the wall giving a strong kick to give herself a boost up. With her little arms she reached the window and with great effort managed to open it. She, crouched with half of her body out, offered her hand to her companion who was so impressed that couldn't react until the voices were heard inside the kitchen. In his first try to imitate Hermione, he hit the wall. At the second attempt, he managed to grab her hand, but his weight was too heavy for the girl so she had to let his hands on the sides of the window. And the boy, with the strength he had to work with animals, rose himself. Once done, they hid on the side on the window facing the outside.

"Strange!" They heard one of the guards say. "No one is here."

They probably left the lights on- said the other guard. The first one was sceptical but his companion insisted "Come on, do you think they were here and made their way out of the window? Muggles do not fly!"

When they left Hermione realized "We aren't allow to eat at this time, are we?"

The other slave looked around to prove there were alone "No,we can only come down to eat at the scheduled time for the slaves, but I was hungry."

"That's stealing."

The boy faced her "Yes, but the owners are asleep. Are you gonna betray me? You're the newbie, no one will believe you. Besides, you have also stolen, you accepted the bread I threw to you."

Hermione couldn't believe it, even for that there was a hierarchy. She snorted and started walking back to her room.

Before she left, the boy shouted "Wait a minute! What's your name?"

"Hermione."

He followed her until the parlour "I'm Ron."

She listened to him, notwithstanding decided to ignore him, It was better to wait for the daylight in her bedroom out of problems. He was weird. She was on her bed and couldn't help herself but think "What the hell can Veelas make?"


	3. Chapter 3 Foreigner at home

**GISA103:Thanks here it is haha**

 **Guest: I agree with you. She needs friends.**

 **1potato: If Fleur is something, I would say a little bit evil. Something normal in that kind of society.**

 **Then again, English is not my first language, but there are some characters who speak English worse than me,so those mistakes are part of the story. In this chapter you will know a little bit more about the life in the Manor.**

Chapter 3

The Potter Manor was overdecorated. Hermione has never seen so many shining ornaments in her life. All the slaves were placed in two rows, one in front of the was obvious someone important was coming.

"Hermione!" Ginny shouted. Hermione saw a red mane running around the hall like a leaf in flames."I never see you, girl! Where do you hide?"

"Well, being a personal slave requires a lot of time" She said in order to avoid confessing she used her free time to read some books. " So Ginny, what's going on?"

"Don't you know?" the redhead asked rhetorically, clearly she didn't "The Malfoys are coming"

"Ehm, who?"

"The Malfoys are a snob family from England, who doesn't remember a shit of English. The father speaks in broken English all the time and his son is worse. He kills the language without mercy." Ginny informed"For some reason that I cannot understand, the Potters and the Malfoys are very close-knit"

They were shushed by Severus, one of those slaves who loved his masters as his own family. His main characteristics was rigidness. He hated gossips and childish behaviors.

Ginny ignored him like always and whispered "I'm pretty sure anyone could speak English better than them. Even you"

"I hope so, because I was born in England and I'm not stupid"

Ginny was excited and couldn't help herself from shouting, which Hermione didn't like at all "Are you English?!" "I am from France, but my mother was born in Ireland. It's amazing, isn't it?" "We are all mixed here, some are French, others are British. Some were conceived in breeding times like Nymphadora..."

"Wait, what do breeding times mean?" Hermione didn't know why, but she felt a natural revulsion at that word.

To Ginny it was a common topic, nothing strange about it "When two nobles get married, each one has its own slaves, so as to make that union stronger, they choose some slaves to bear children. It's a symbol of love."

"And they do it also when they predict in some years more slaves will be needed. It's a way to carry on with slavery " a young woman who passed by added. The woman looked young, approximately in her 20s. She wore her hazelnut hair down until her shoulders. Her skin was a little bit tanner than Hermione's. She looked innocent by her sweet facial features, but wore a menacing gaze that expressed strength.

"She's the one I was talking about, Nymphadora" Ginny said.

"And who was the slave with a funeral demeanour who shushed us?"Hermione asked.

"I bet it was the boring Severus"Nymphadora answered without thinking twice. It was so typical of him.

Severus was tired of them and complained" Can't you just shut up? And besides, you shouldn't be here!" he said pointing at the bushy-haired girl "You are a personal slave, go next to Rosmerta!"

Hermione did as she was commanded, but finding Rosmerta wasn't so easy. There were so many slaves..Before she could knew what was going on, lady Potter, grabbed her by the arm and brought her to her correct place."My dear, now all slaves are located"she informed her husband.

"Good" James rubbed his hands and went to the principal door followed by the whole family. When the order of opening the external doors was given, a sumptuous carriage came into the Manor. The first thing of getting out the carriage was a pointy shoe and an old fashion style wooden cane hold by a hand covered by a white glove. Then the person came out into the open, an albino man in a velvety getup with a swirly mane and paltry expression. Definitely, that was Lord Lucius Malfoy. An appearance as luxury as grotesque.

"If the bad taste had a surname" Fleur murmured when her stepfather didn't hear her. Hermione did and couldn't bottle up a burlesque smile.

"My friend" Lucius said embracing James "How much not to see you" Hermione remembered what Ginny said about their English. And she hadn't listened to his son yet.

On the other hand, lady Malfoy wasn't as eccentric as she had expected after seeing her husband. She wasn't humble though, her dress was made of the best and most expensive silks. It didn't make her look silly, quite the contrary, she looked mettle.

Draco, their son, was like his father even in the way he dressed. Harry and Gabrielle greeted Draco with joy. In opposition of Fleur who was a little bit colder towards the boy. He didn't give her a good vibe.

When the little boy of the Malfoys was walking among the rows of muggles, he saw a new one, Hermione. He tried to scrutinize every fraction of her face."This slave not being here before" the way he spoke English was a call for a collective suicide, not to mention the cheesy voice he had. He tried to gain a closer look, but she stepped back not liking his behaviour. At the beginning, Hermione feigned nothing was wrong, but when there wasn't more room to hide and Draco dared to touch her face, she spoke up rudely "My mistress is Gabrielle"

What she meant was "Gabrielle is my mistress, please behave", what all Wizards understood was "I don't have to obey you". Apolline remembering the conversation she had with Fleur about the Malfoy's boy empathized with the little girl, even when she wasn't one of those pious women who were compassionate with their slaves. Apolline could swear by the gaze full of hatred towards Draco, Fleur was thinking about the same thing. She knew an intervention was needed.

"She's the personal slave of Gabrielle. My Gabby is so delighted to have a personal slave."

"Yes, it was my gift for her birthday. I think it is a great buy if it keeps my little girl happy" Lord Potter said proudly.

Draco kept walking until he arrived where Ginny was, then an evil smile showed up. Ginny was different from Hermione, she knew what Draco expected from her. "Good morning, lord Malfoy. I hope thou had...a cool trip"

"A good journey" Severus corrected the girl. Severus was the formality in person. Always teaching others how to treat masters.

"I hope thou had a good journey" She repeated.

Draco checked her out like he did to Hermione, but this time he wore a smirk of pleasure for her docility. Before he could get closer, Harry showed him the new toy Sirius had sent. The blond boy went away with his friend and the new plaything, because it was a present from an Auror and Aurors were heroes for the whole Wizarding community.

After the welcome, everyone continued their task. Hermione wasn't sure what to do, but when she saw Rosmerta following Fleur, she guessed she should walk behind Gabrielle. The girls of the manor retired to their chambers to play with dolls.

Gabrielle proposed something "I know. We can play who dress the dolls faster"

"Gaby, it's not fair. I'm older, I'll win"

"No"the little one defended"because Hermione will be in my team so we'll be faster"

"That's not fair either!"

"Hermione is a muggle so she count as half of a person and you are older so you count as two"Gabby loved competing against her sister..

Rosmerta realized those children must felt lonely if they were prone to play with slaves who they were taught to , even if Gabrielle hit Hermione for getting the wrong doll into the wrong dress, there were the three of them playing. Two of them using their wands and the other without magic. Too soon they would learned they were not allowed to play with each other, but not that day.

"Yess!" Fleur jumped and sang. "Losers, tatata! Losers, tatata!"

"That's not fair!" Gabrielle sulked "You won because I was playing with a dirty Muggle!"

Fleur jumped around the whole room celebrating her victory "Excuses, excuses" "Losers, losers!"

Hermione was competitive as well. Very competitive. She wasn't going to give up so easily. "I dare you to do it without magic!You and I, face to face, what do you say?!"

Everybody stopped dead in tracks fearing Fleur's reaction "Me against a grubby Muggle? I don't stoop so low"

Rosmerta was aware what a tantrum from a rich lady could cost and wanted to prevent it. Nonetheless Gabrielle being too smart for her age guessed Rosmerta's intentions and inquired into the matter "What are you afraid of, dear sister?"

"I'm not afraid of anything!"

Hermione pointed at the dolls and added with a silly voice "Prove it, mylady!"

While with a wand was easy to do and undo everything, using her own hands was different. The clothing of the dolls was made in the image of aristocratic dresses. They were confusing and tangled like a puzzles. For Hermione, now she had a little practise dressing Gabrielle, it wasn't so complex.

Fleur had to finish with three dolls yet when Hermione was done. Gabrielle was the first to erupt in laughter "It's amazing! A Muggle defeated you!"

"Loser, loser!"Hermione sang impersonating Fleur.

If there's something you must not do to a Veela it is making fun of her. The pride always prevails. Her inner beast took the control and pushed Hermione to the floor. How did she have the nerve..."How dare you mock me?"She took some steps forward to intimidate her, but then, there was that damned tune again. She closed her eyes trying to gain strength, her nostrils were wide open to inhale as much air as possible. She clenched her fists to withstand the burden she suddenly felt.

Hermione from the floor, took the chance to drew back behind Gabrielle's feet.

"Yo, sister, don't take it on her! You lost!" Gabrielle petted her Muggle "Well done slave, well done"

Fleur got out of the room slamming the door. To say she was fuming was an understatement. Rosmerta followed her, not without giving to the brunette a reproachful look. Gabrielle kept playing with Hermione, not hiding her interest for this new slave. She wasn't like the rest, she had something else. Only if she could bring her under control she would be a great slave.

Time passed by and standing the Malfoys was more difficult each day. The way they treated others, they way they spoke or even how they moved around the house, it was insufferable. The worst? Draco. Hermione has seen him spying on Ginny when the redhead was too busy to realize it. The demands of Narcissa about the food "I asked for a carrot cake, I never said I'd like cream on it."

Even the conversation between the nobles were irritating.

"What I suspected"Lucius folded the newspaper "the Muggles German who ran away are on the run still".

"Do you think they have crossed the border?" Lord Potter asked not really interested.

"No. It's impossible, borders are perfectly protected. The problem is people to loose trust in government German. I have business in Germany. I need people to trust them, my dear friend"

Seriously, why didn't James want to kill him? For God sakes, he's English! How cannot he speak English? It didn't make sense at all. The only hope Hermione had was that the Malfoys wanted to visit some places near the Manor. They couldn't stay so long without going somewhere. And she wanted to take that chance to spend a day in her old dorp.

The first day Hermione saw Gabrielle in a good mood tried to talk about it "Don't you think that the guests would like to visit some places around here".

"Maybe"

"And the nearest place is Haut Champ" She was careful with her words.

"Would be there a day where you call me milady and use the respectful form?" There wasn't anything Gabrielle wanted more than to show her commandment.

"I'm sorry, I cannot speak odd" Hermione embarrassed because she was the only Muggle who didn't know how to conjugate the respectful form. "Anyway, what do you think about what I said?"

"I will ask my father, I don't know what he'll say, but I'll ask"

Hermione smiled hopefully. Both looked at the living room, where the boys and Fleur were playing with some magical balls which flew around the room. The one who exploded more balls would won the game.

"Fleur darling, why don't you quit playing with the boys and brighten up the evening for us with a song?" Apolline interrupted because she felt bored listening to Lord Malfoy and his tedious problems.

Fleur got up and went to play the piano, which Narcissa instinctively disliked it "Are you gonna play the piano like a Muggle?

Apolline faced lady Malfoy "If my mother were here, she would disagree with you, Narcissa. She says the pianos and flutes belonged to Veelas, based on their tune, the only ones similar to our real voice"

Narcissa stood quiet and the French Veela just smile pretending she was fine with her guests. She didn't know a lot of her own culture, but being compared to Muggles was an offence. She forgot it once Fleur started singing. Her voice was sweet like a lullaby, but at the same time it bragged inner force. The lyrics was in an unfamiliar language that possessed concealed feelings, something that only lady Potter could understand.

From the corridor, Hermione listened to the music. The tune was so familiar. She saw the movement of Fleur's hair like if it has a life of its own, like if it were dancing. The applauses woke her up from her trance. Gabrielle was behind her. "Hermione, c'mon. I want to read some books and I need you to pick me some books" When she saw her slave didn't move, she slapped her hard in the face "Let's go, dumb!"

Gabrielle loved books, the most the ones about adventures, great heroes in distant places with exotic love stories. She was so passionate about reading that sometimes she stopped to make comments. She used to read out loud so Hermione had learned reading in French, even if she feigned she couldn't. It was ironic, she could read better in French than in English, mostly because of Gabrielle, she read in English only in class, while outside she spent hours with Gabrielle reading French authors. Somehow, she felt a little bit a foreigner in both languages. She had been in France more than 6 years, so she felt French sometimes, others she didn't. Basically she was from nowhere. By the other hand, Gabrielle was a mixture between both places, half French, half English, at the same she was from nowhere as well. Those afternoons full of amazing stories linked them. They didn't give it more importance than it actually had until one day, when Lord Potter, who was walking by, saw them. He hurried up and took a book from Hermione's hand. "What are you doing?!"

The slave afraid of what her master could do to her mumbled "Just looking the drawings"

Lord Potter looked at his daughter "Tell me you haven't read out loud"

"I have not, father" she lied.

"Your people aren't welcome here" James pointed the library "This place is Sacred". He pushed the bushy-haired girl out of the library. Gabrielle pretended to obey. Her father didn't want her slave in the library? Okay, fine. The house was big enough, she could read in her room. She wasn't going to quit reading just because her father didn't want Muggles in the library.

Besides that, days passed quietly. But one day. the Potters along with the Malfoys were about to visit the dorp. Yes, the idea Hermione gave to Gabrielle was fine with Lord Potter,but they decided not to bring the girl with them, let her in the Manor.

"Why cannot I go with you?"

Gabrielle replied what was obvious "Because no slave is coming, only the coachman"

"But I'm your personal slave, I've to go with you" Hermione was desperate to see Aberforth again "Wasn't I a good slave? Haven't I done everything you asked?" "I deserve a reward!"

Beware how you talk to me, slave!" Gabrielle warned.

But Hermione was unleashed and uncontrollable " I'll talk to you however I want, dwarf!"

Fleur had been there the whole time, she wasn't paying attention, cause she only wanted to say goodbye and went to her room, but when she heard the offence something in her brain "clicked" and before Hermione were able to know what came to her she was being slapped in the face, pulled to the floor and kicked twice. Rosmerta took Hermione by her arm and slapped her again when Fleur couldn't. She let Hermione in another room and promised the slave would be punished.

"I won't forget this,Rosmerta!"Hermione cried when Rosmerta was out of the room. She looked around and saw she wasn't alone. There was this odd man from the other day, Severus.

"Keep your voice down!" he said calmly.

"You aren't a Wizard. I don't have to obey you"

Severus gave her a phantasmagorical smile "So that's your philosophy. You don't have discipline if they don't force you to" "You're so lucky Rosmerta was there"

"She's a traitor!" the little girl protested.

"And people told me you were smart...What a deception!"

"Am smart!" Hermione hated when people called her stupid.

"Then answer me this, since when has Rosmerta any power to punish you?" Severus waited for her to think about it "She hit you and brought you here because they would not have stopped"

"It was a bluff" she realized.

"Exactly, silly girl. Let's just hope, her intervention contented the ladies so they won't tell Lord Potter about it and you'll keep your tongue in its place" he turned around "If I were you, I would try to amend my mistake"

Hermione witted he was right. She had to fix what she did. She tried to find Gabrielle, but the only ones who remained in the Manor was Lady Potter and Fleur. And she didn't want Apolline to know about it, so she waited for Fleur to be alone. Alone meaning Rosmerta by her side.

"Fleur, I'd like to talk to you" she began "I'm really sorry about my behaviour back there. I have no excuses for what I did" - "because I was right" she thought- "I'm really really sorry"- This time she was looking at Rosmerta, the only person she wanted to ask for forgiveness.

"You just say that because you don't want me to tell my step father what you did" Fleur was not as stupid as some people believed. "James won't know, he doesn't have time for this" They tried to tell him, but he was too busy with his friends to pay attention to his children. "But I hope you have a great punishment"

Rosmerta intervened quickly "It will be so terrible she won't do it again, Milady"

Fleur got so close to the brunette that her noses touched each other "I hope so. Because next time you behave like that with my sister, I will kill you"

The sentences bristled Hermione's skin, she looked very capable of that so she, indecisively, went to the kitchen, where her mates were celebrating. Each held a jar of beer in their hands.

"What is this party for?" Hermione asked Nymphadora.

"The Malfoys have bought Percy and Charlie, so this is our farewell. They need more slaves in their stables and our workers have impressed them." She informed. Hermione looked around and realized she had never seen so many redheads together in her life. She was about to look for her friend, Ginny, when she saw her on a corner. "yo, Ginny, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little bit sad" she said "Some of my brothers were bought and I know it's normal and they are no more brothers to me than Nymphadora is, or anyone of this Manor for the matter, but still..." Life for slaves weren't familiar at all. They didn't sleep in the same place, each type of slave had their own room. There weren't parents or siblings, yes,there were some blood line but that was all.

Fred and George got on the tables raising their jars "Ladies and gentlemen, we are honored to sing our favourite song as our gift of farewell to our loving Percy and Charlie"

"One, two, one, two, three..."

 _This is the story of a poor English barber_

 _lonely and dejected he went for a pint_

 _and after drinking the first pint_

 _the sky became cloudy and he went blind_

 _Dingdingding aiiooo, dingdingding aiiooo_

 _He went blind_

People gathered to dance. The steps were basically based on the moves of the feet.

 _After the fifth pint the night just began._

 _He was motivated and really really drunk_

 _so after awhile he started dancing with a vedette,_

 _but what he was doing in fact was dancing with a bidet._

 _Dingdingding aiiooo, dingdingding aiiooo_

 _He was dancing with a bidet_

The song was funny, even Hermione was laughing. She took Ginny to the centre to dance like others were. "Don't let your brothers remember you with that sad face"

 _Someone stole his money and for money he had to beg,_

 _and happily after he came across with his friend Paul_

 _and this friend was on the bootleg_

 _and threw something into his drink stronger than alcohol_

 _Dingdingding aiiooo, dingdingding aiiooo_

 _Threw into his drink more than alcohol_

They were told off for singing that verse, but it was the one which made Ginny smile. She even grabbed Charlie's arm to dance with him. Someone pulled Hermione by her hand, also, with the honest propose of dancing. It was Ronald. "I didn't see you this morning"

"I wasn't hungry" She said plainly.

 _The poor English barber, as gallant as he used to be,_

 _was so blind that he couldn't really see._

 _And because he was so gallant a woman he just met_

 _and the morning after a horse she turned to be_

 _Dingdingding aiiooo, dingdingding aiiooo_

 _a horse she turned to be._

"I kept an apple for you. I'll give you later" Ron took her into account, although not even himself knew why.

"Maybe later I'll be busy with my tasks" she replied.

"Impossible. Gabrielle isn't here" he said a little mad at her for trying to lie.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I got the hippogriffs to the carriage" Ron answered "They wanted hippogriffs to impress those snobs" "Of course, Wizards love hippogriffs, they are as haughty as Wizards are. The only one who has to deal with them is Tonks, the coachman."

 _The poor barber knew he couldn't continue like this_

 _he had to quit drinking or he'd end up waking on a pile of shit_

 _but the weekend was coming aaaand_

 _For God sakes He was English!_

 _Dingdingding aiiooo, dingdingding aiiooo_

 _For God sakes He was English!_

"They are awesome!" Hermione claimed. Everyone applauded like crazy, they loved their silly and ridiculous songs.

Those parties were allowed, always when they couldn't bother their masters. So they kept drinking, singing and dancing as if there were no tomorrow. It was one of those parties you remember your whole life. It was the farewell of two members and the welcome of Hermione to the Manor.

NA:Please don't kill me. The song is not my opinion about English people. Only a stupid song for getting drunk haha I like reviews, it gives me motivation to translate this fic. If you find mistakes you can tell me. Thanks!


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